The future of work will rely on more than just remote work. As international markets reopen after the pandemic, we have seen an increase in physical liquidity.
To ensure that the company's approach to global liquidity is future-proof, they have two options:
Build in-houseMobility sectorOrganizations with sufficient resources can hire a global mobility consultant or train existing team members to understand global mobility policies, immigration legislation, and cross-border compliance internally.
Work with a global HR platform with built-in immigration support:Organizations looking for a one-stop global mobility solution can partner with an EOR and utilize a dedicated global mobility team to handle international employment contracts, visa procurement, relocation logistics, employment laws, immigration requirements, global mobility taxes, global payroll, mandatory benefits, and global talent management and compliance.
Below, we'll ** some current and future global mobility trends and how you can prepare for them.
Traditionally, global mobility has meant the efficiency with which companies send employees to different countries as expatriates or for business trips and assignments. Today, global mobility has evolved into a company's ability to support a global workforce, meet employee preferences, and win the war for talent.
Global mobility as a strategy for business success contributes to:
Match talent** with business needs.
Expand into new markets and talent pools to close the skills gap.
Keep employees engaged and improve retention.
Develop employee agility and the ability to adapt during periods of market volatility and disruption.
Drive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and promote new ideas and perspectives.
The global mobile industry is redefining the employee experience. Companies must move from paternalism to global mobility and to a worker-empowered approach to attract and retain the best talent and achieve international business goals.
Mobile, tech-savvy, and flexible millennials make up a growing percentage of the global workforce. The new generation of workers will facilitate greater global mobility and enable companies to relocate employees more efficiently and at a lower cost than traditional expatriates.
However, millennials have different prerequisites and expectations than the traditional workforce. They often see their careers as mobile and fluid, and prioritize lifestyle and personal development opportunities over static roles, linear career progress, and company ladders.
Mobile workers may choose a mobility plan based on the following factors:
Direct career opportunities.
Enhance the learning experience.
Participate in location-based operations and key projects.
Economic benefits, such as higher wages, savings opportunities, tax obligations.
Higher quality of life.
Immerse yourself in local life.
Ability to contribute to the local community.
Individual family considerations.
Long-term, static mobility programs offer little to no cultural exposure, career development, or work-life balance and are likely to go unnoticed.
Companies must design holistic global mobility programs that align with employees' career and lifestyle goals and foster an exceptional employee experience. When designing a mobility plan, you should plan the entire employee journey to ensure that employees remain engaged and engaged. Consider the following:
Site Risk Assessment:Before relocating workers, companies should ensure that the destination is safe and appropriate for the workers.
Visa & Immigration Support:It is the employer's responsibility to assist employees and their families with visa applications to ensure a successful move.
Cultural Assimilation and Adaptation Training:Companies should facilitate a smooth relocation process and the transition from one culture and mission to another.
Financial Security:Companies should design and adjust compensation structures to account for exchange rates, cost-of-living differences, travel compensation, and salary increases.
Flexible Benefits:Rather than standardizing expatriate benefits and perks, companies should offer flexible cafeteria-style benefits and perks, allowing employees to choose what is relevant to maintaining their specific lifestyle, helping them stay mobile and provide for their families.
Support:To ensure the health, safety, and well-being of mobile workers, companies should provide 24/7 support through mobile apps, chatbots, and self-service solutions.
Monitoring:Companies should monitor the actions of their employees to ensure they remain compliant when moving between jurisdictions and arrange for repatriation if necessary.
Education:Mobile employees need financial and tax education to help them make informed decisions that help them stay compliant, save money, and plan for the future.
Data Management:Companies should use real-time reporting systems to collect, integrate, and disseminate mobility data to flag issues and inform future global mobility strategies.
Policy Development:Businesses should continue to revise and update internal policies to support a mobile workforce to provide more flexible work arrangements based on the distinction between core, non-negotiable characteristics and locally appropriate projects.
Companies must develop an integrated global talent management approach to effectively hire and deploy talent, meet duty of care, and track and improve the progress of their mobility programs.
In the past, talent mobility involved multinational companies relocating employees or expatriates to new locations for international assignments. Today, talent mobility depends on an ever-expanding pool of virtual and remote employees and travelers with different mobility needs.
The modern workforce is made up of a variety of mobile employees:
Third country workers:Workers employed at the company's headquarters and in countries other than their home country.
New Movers:Employees who want to relocate to a new country of their choice.
Digital nomadsWorkers who want to take their work with them when moving from one country to another.
International Gig Workers:Independent contractors, contract company workers, on-call workers, and temporary workers who want to take over and perform their duties in a different country of their choice.
Frequent Flyer:Employees who need to complete regular and long-term business trips to different countries.
Commuters:Employees who want to live in the country of their choice and commute frequently to the host country.
These employees add tremendous value to a company's global mobility, but few HR teams are able to track and manage such complex mobility. This lack of experience can create a variety of challenges for companies from an employee experience, compliance, and cost perspective.
Companies that are able to orchestrate a mobile workforce across teams and geographies using a single, integrated digital ecosystem will have the best opportunity to support the mobile workforce and avoid compliance issues and disruptions.
Mobile leaders advise companies to stay up-to-date on the latest legal and regulatory developments to stay compliant and productive in their future work.
Modern mobility requires the ability to easily move people and items somewhere. However, the current flow process is onerous, costly, and complex, with unnecessary bureaucracy and an inefficient cycle of intermediaries.
Fortunately, global mobility is driving seismic changes in today's legal and regulatory environment. This change has forced countries** to rapidly develop, amend, and enforce new regulations and initiatives to reform visa processing, work permits, international tax compliance, and more.
Keeping a close eye on these developments on a global scale requires ongoing education, research, and monitoring of regulators**.
The EOR organization is made up of a team of trained legal experts who are trained in the latest international employment laws and regulations to ensure that your global workforce is more confident and comfortable navigating the global mobility landscape.
Whether you're looking to relocate team members to an office headquarters or allow employees to work from anywhere, our immigration experts can provide a solution. We can help immigrate employees hired through your own entity, or hire and sponsor workers on your behalf through the EOR model.